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14#
发表于 2013-4-28 06:17
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I just finished a Master of Finance at the University of Cambridge in the UK, and maybe if I share my story it would be helpful for the OP and others considering a specialized masters degree in finance.
I can tell you for a fact that specialized masters of finance programs (unless you are attending MIT, Princeton, and LBS as a crappy alternative), are not perfect substitutes for a top MBA at all. I studied as an international student in the UK, and I found that recruitment was largely targeted to MBA candidates and undergrads, with no clear recognition or respect being given to the specialized masters degrees. Of course you will find some people to be successful in securing roles as international students (I secured a role as an investment banking analyst at a regional investment bank in London), most people will come into the program with the highest expectations, only to end up returning to their home countries with not even a single job offer in hand.
While I do agree with most people that a masters degree in finance is a much better strategy of securing a finance role than just hammering away at the CFA program having secured little to no relevant experience at all, anyone should be very careful before making a huge investment of time and money in a subpar program. If you haven’t heard of the school before, chances are it has no recognition in the market, and you should be wary of joining the program unless you are in a special situation (i.e. full scholarship recipient etc.). The Cambridge program cost a total of $75,000 USD for the year for example, and only three people (Out of a class of 45) secured a new job upon completion of the program, with some returning to their previous employers and many being jobless. I would recommend that for more experienced people (2-3 years of experience), an MBA from a quality school should be selected any day of the week over a masters in finance degree in terms of making a real legitimate impact on your career in terms of career advancement, or being a career switcher which is what most people aim for in attending one of these programs.
There are some people who will argue with me and say, “MBAs are for generalists! Master of finance degrees are for specialists! You obviously do not know what you are talking about!”. I’ll let you guys in on a secret, you don’t learn anything in an MBA or master of finance program anyways, all you do is go through the motions. The CFA curriculum could arguably destroy any masters in finance curriculum out there barring MIT.
In summary, don’t do a masters in finance unless you are: 1) Going to a top school, 2) Already have an awesome profile and are not trying to switch careers (Why would you even consider doing one in the first place then?), and/or 3) You are on full scholarship. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time and money, and you’ll be dissappointed to realize that you will not learn anything new about finance beyond the CFA curriculum. |
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